ONEIDA COUNTY

WISCONSIN MUNICIPALITIES: Cities Towns, and Villages, often referred to as 'municipalities' in Wisconsin law, are the governmental units that relate most directly to citizens' everyday lives.

TOWNS, like counties, were created by the state to provide basic municipal services. Rooted in New England and New York tradition, town government came to Wisconsin with the settlers, but Wisconsin towns were not like their Eastern counterparts that reflected the existing patterns of local settlement. In Wisconsin, towns are geographical subdivisions of counties. Towns originally served (and for the most part they continue to serve) rural areas. Towns govern those areas of Wisconsin not included in the corporate boundaries of cities and villages.

The difference between "township" and "town" often confuses the public. In Wisconsin, "township' refers to the surveyor's township which was laid out to identify land parcels within a county. Theoretically. a township is a square tract of land, measuring six miles on a side for a total of 36 square miles in the unit. Each township is divided into 36 sections. "Town", as the word is used in Wisconsin, denotes a specific unit of government. It's boundaries may coincide with the surveyor's township or it may look quite different. A Town may include one, parts of or several townships.[ See Oneida County Plat Map ]

CITIES and VILLAGES, often referred to as "incorportated areas", govern territory where population is more concentrated. In general, minimum population for incorporation as a village is 150 residents for an isolated village and 2,500 for a metropolitan village located in a more densely settled area. For cities, the minimums are 1,000 and 5,000 respectively. As cities and villages are incorporated, they are carved out of the town territory and become independent units no longer subject to the town's control. The remainder of the town may take on a 'Swiss cheese" configuration as its area is reduced.

[Information above taken from "State of Wisconsin Blue Book 1997-1998" Compiled by the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. chpt. "The Changing World of Wisconsin Local Government'" sec. 3. Municipalities: The Most local of Governments. pags115-122. Wisconsin Blue Books are Publ. Biennially In Odd-Numbered Years.]

SMALL SETTLEMENTS and ~ ~GHOST TOWNS ~ ~

There were many small settlements that sprung up around logging camps of the early 1900's and were not much more than a grocery store, post office, railroad stations or rail junction. Some of these develped into larger communities, others have disappeared along with the lumber camps and the railroads.

* Information on community post offices was taken from "Hale, James B. Wisconsin Post Office Handbook. Bulletin No. 20. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Postal History Society, 1988." Post offices with a beginning date followed by a " +" were still in existance at the time the book was written. Some post offices may have ceased operation after 1988.

**Information on railroad stations, junctions and railroad lines taken from a map of Railroads in the Northwoods. The dates are for the railroad lines only, the stations may or may not have been operating during that entire time frame. This list is by no means anywhere near completion, more informatin will be added.